あんまり、扱いが大きくないまぁ。
突然ではなく、
事前に、東北楽天に戻るというニュースが、
何度も流れたからだろか？
評論家の予想が、
それでも、福岡ソフトバンクか？
それとも、
東北楽天に流れる？
それが、楽しみ。
Masahiro Tanaka returning to play in Japan after seven seasons with New York Yankees
In a move that hardly comes as a surprise, but underscores the current climate of Major League Baseball's free-agent market, Masahiro Tanaka will return to Japan to pitch for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Rakuten posted Tanaka seven years ago, making him available to play overseas. He signed a seven-year deal worth $155 million with the New York Yankees that offseason, and he had been arguably the most consistent member of their starting rotation since. Tanaka was No. 9 in USA TODAY Sports' free agency rankings heading into the offseason.
Terms of Tanaka's new deal were not immediately revealed, but the team declared the 32-year-old right-hander's return with a "Welcome home our hero" announcement .
WELCOME HOME our HERO!!!!https://t.co/2WoFI9XjKJ #RakutenEagles #おかえりなさい pic.twitter.com/2DNlgJYORy
"I feel extremely forutnate for having the opportunity to take the field as a member of the New York Yankees, and play in front of all you passionate fans. it has been an honor and a privilege! Thank you so much!!
Tanaka battled a partially torn UCL throughout his Yankees tenure and started 174 games in pinstripes, with a 3.74 ERA and 8.5 K/9 ratio in the regular season. He also went 5-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 54 postseason innings.
Behind ace Gerrit Cole, the Yankees now have several question marks in their starting rotation, even with the offseason additions of Jameson Taillon and Corey Kluber.